Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a system, apparatus, method, and program serving as a palm-size electronic-automated micro-nuclear magnetic resonance (μNMR) relaxometer integrated with a Digital Microfluidic (DMF) device and an optimized Butterfly-coil-input CMOS transceiver to extend capability and enhance performance for chemical and/or biological diagnosis.
Related Art
With lab-on-a-chip devices there is a desire to miniaturize benchtop laboratory apparatuses into handheld tools for point-of-care (POC) diagnosis, while featuring orders-of-magnitude reduction of hardware cost and sample use. This vision implies tantalizing advantages over the laboratory tests, especially for rapid pre-screening of infectious diseases such as, e.g., human immune-deficiency virus, tuberculosis, and Ebola, particularly in under-developed worlds.
The inventors of the present application note that although a wide variety of POC diagnostic tools have been reported, such as those utilizing electrical sensing, magnetic sensing, or optical detection, none of them has explored the prospects of micro-nuclear magnet resonance (μNMR) with the advanced microfluidic and microelectronic technologies.